October 19, 2016

MunchPak: Fun Snacks from Around the World {Delivered Right to your Door}

We are a bunch of foodies here in the Our Everyday Harvest household. My family and I especially enjoy a salty or sweet treat from time to time. What's even better is when we can try something new and also have it delivered right to our door. In the past, we've been blessed to try subscription boxes that highlight different states in the US, and others that deliver fabulous artisan treats. Recently, we've had a chance to give a new subscription box a try that is definitely worth talking about!

It's called MunchPak, and what's really neat about this one is that each box contains an assortment of snacks from all around the world! So not only have we been enjoying goodies from the US, but from places like Japan, Mexico, Serbia, and even Romania! Plus, we didn't even have to leave our home to do so!

ABOUT MUNCHPAK:

In the beginning, MunchPak was a simple idea dreamt up by Michael Beletz and Andrew Hawel in a living room to get international snacks to the masses all from one single place. This dream soon became a reality and in November 2013 MunchPak was born. After about six months of running MunchPak with just two people, Michael and Andrew quickly realized they would need to bring more devoted snackers onto the team for MunchPak to reach its full potential of becoming the very best snack delivery service. As of early 2016, the MunchPak team has grown to more than 15 people dedicated to expanding your snack horizons.

During the time that we were a military family, we had the opportunity to be stationed overseas. I always enjoyed trying new food items that I wouldn't normally find here in the US. From time to time, I actually miss the convenience of being able to grab my favorite international snacks right down the road. When the MunckPak arrived at my door, it brought up fun memories of getting to try new things from all over the globe.

The MunchPak comes in three different sizes and subscription prices start at $9.95:

The Mini Contains 5+ full size snacks

The Original contains 10+ full size snacks

The FamilyPak contains 20+ full size snacks

Our first box arrived in the FamilyPak size, so there were plenty of unique treats to go through. I couldn't believe the variety included! There were even a few familiar products, too. You see, MunchPak ships worldwide, so food items from the United States are also included.

Our MunchPak FamilyPak came with 22 snacks. Here's a little rundown of what we received and my personal thoughts on each product:

Pei Tien Bibi Bear Rice Cakes from Taiwan: Since there wasn't any nutritional information included on the packaging, I had to do a bit of research prior to giving them a try. These were actually pretty good. They're lightly sweetened and taste a lot like puffed rice cereal, which I really like.

Combos Buffalo Blue Cheese from the United States: Combos is a very popular snack, so we were all familiar with this one, although it was the first time that I had ever tried this flavor. I do have to say the blue cheese did taste more like cheddar. All in all, they were pretty good and had a tiny kick.

Lorena Jolly Rancher Crayon (Mango) Candy from Mexico: I didn't really give this one a try, but allowed my husband to be the guinea pig. The candy was soft. He said it tasted okay, but kind of messy and awkward to eat.

Beer Nuts Brand Cashews from the United States: These are simple, no frill salted cashews. They tasted good, but had a little too much salt.

Sheila G's Brownie Brittle (Chocolate Chip) from the United States: These little squares tasted just like rich, baked chocolate brownies, but they were thin and had a crunch reminiscent of a hard cookie. Very yummy!

Chick-O-Stick from the United States: I got really excited when I saw one of these in my box, since they were a favorite of mine while growing up. I used to pay ten cents for the smaller size when I was a kid. It pretty much tastes just like a Butterfinger without the chocolate coating. It consists of a crunchy peanut candy that is lightly coated with toasted coconut. So good!!

Corny Big Multi-Grain Bar (Chocolate Banana) from Germany: This is a chocolate and banana flavored granola bar. I honestly thought it was going to be really good, but I took one bite and couldn't eat another. The coco liquor flavor was just a bit too much for me.

Cocoa Puffs King Sized Treat Bar from the United States: I have actually tried this bar in the past and it's really good. It has all kinds of chocolaty goodness (cereal, chocolate chips, and fudge drizzles). The Lucky Charms version used to be my favorite of the bunch. In the past, always enjoyed General Mills products, I just wish they would stop using GMO's in their foods.

St Mary's Ripe Plantain Chips from the Dominican Republic: I love love love plantain chips! I grew up eating these, but the St. Mary's brand was actually new to me. These are just as good as the other brands that I've tried in the past. I like that they're lightly coated with sea salt and contain no preservatives. Another favorite in my MunchPak box!

Dobrogea Eugenia Chocolate Biscuits from Romania: These are long cookie sandwiches with chocolate cream in the middle, which kind of reminded me of a Snackwells. They were quite tasty and the perfect companion to my cup of coffee.

Churrumais Con Limoncito from Mexico: I didn't care for these tiny, crunchy puff sticks. They had a very strong lime taste, which overpowered the rest of the flavors.

Eti PopKek With Chocolate from Turkey: This was actually one of my favorites from the box (next to the Chick-O-Stick and plantain chips). I have a sweet spot (no pun intended) for cake treats and this one was yummy! It's a little oval shaped yellow cake with a chocolate layer on top and a creamy chocolate center. Although the creamy center was sparse, this is still a top pick for me.

Tangy Zangy Blue Raspberry Sour Twist Sticks from the United States: Lately, I have been trying to stay away from artificial dyes, but decided to go ahead and give this one a quick try anyway. I'm not a fan of sour items, but these were really good and honestly not too bad on the pucker scale. I also like that they contain real apple fruit juice, which definitely added to the flavor.

Morinaga Hi-Chew Bites (Grape And Strawberry) from Japan: This was another favorite of mine and definitely satisfied my candy craving. They're chewy little disks of candy goodness. One of the things that I really appreciate is that the company uses fruit and vegetable juices instead of artificial dyes to color their product. Very tasty!

Gerrit's Sour Blockheads from the United States: I am not a fan of excessively sour things, so I didn't really care for these. Plus, they were too hard and contained a ton of artificial dyes.

Honey Linzer Sho-Key from Bulgaria: I really enjoyed this one and it tasted great with tea. It's a small soft cake with a thin honey center covered in chocolate. Yummy!

Soft Oreo from Japan: I have never tried a soft Oreo before, so this definitely piqued my interest. Sadly, I was very disappointed. Not only did it fall apart when I took it out of the package, but there was barely any cream filling and the cookie didn't really have any flavor to it.

Frito Lay Cheetos Umashio Flavor from Japan: These were very different to say the least, but at the same time kind of tasty. They had a light butter flavor mixed with corn. What's really interesting is that they are made with bonito powder–at the same time they didn't have a fishy aftertaste.

Maruta Natuskashi Ramune Candy from Japan: These were another interesting treat straight out of Japan. They come in this nifty little plastic container shaped like a soda bottle and melt as soon as you put them in your mouth. The taste is very reminiscent of a Smarties candy (which I love!) with a light lemon flavor. They're actually pretty good.

Nestle Mura Choco Dreams Wafer from Bulgaria: This was so good and really satisfied my chocolate craving. It's a chocolate covered wafer bar with creamy layers in between. Delicious!

Torku Turtacik Tangerine Jelly Cookies from Turkey: Another favorite here! These are tiny round shortbread cookies that are topped with a tangerine marmalade and chocolate sprinkles. I had some of these with a nice hot cup a coffee. They were so good!

What's great about a MunchPak subscription box is that it can be fully customized. Subscription plans can be ordered on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly schedule. For a more personalized experience, they also offer the option to cater the box to your liking. When ordering, you can select your favorite and least favorite snack types (ex. sweet, salty, spicy, candy, chips, cookies, etc.). There's even an option to add a drink. I especially like that they offer individual items for sale on their website. So let's say you receive a box and had a couple of favorites that you'd like to try again, just search their snack database to order more.

My only suggestion to the company would be to add an informational sheet with each shipment that highlights a brief description of each item, along with ingredients/nutritional information. Since the contents come from various countries, some of the food packages have text in a different language. There is a card in the box that included information about an app that allows customers to scan the product barcodes. Unfortunately, I don't use a smartphone, so this didn't help me much. Since I won't eat anything without knowing what's in it, I had to do a bit of my own research to find out more information about some of the items in my box.

With the holidays right around the corner, a MunchPak would make a truly unique gift for friends and family. It'd also be a nice surprise for prior military members who were previously stationed overseas and may miss snacking on treats from around the world. Right now, Our Everyday Harvest readers can receive $2.00 off their first box! Just enter promo code OEHARVEST at checkout.